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ARK Invest takes a $162 million position in Solana treasury company Solmate, signaling confidence in Solana’s ecosystem.
XRP and Dogecoin ETFs debut with record trading volumes, reflecting investor appetite beyond BTC and ETH.
Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade aims to double scalability, while PayPal expands PYUSD to nine more blockchains.
The cryptocurrency market continues to witness rapid developments across institutional adoption, infrastructure upgrades, and product innovation. From ARK Invest’s big Solana bet to the record-breaking debut of XRP and Dogecoin ETFs, alongside Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade and PayPal’s stablecoin expansion, here are the top stories shaping digital assets today.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest made headlines after acquiring $162 million worth of shares in Brera Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed company recently rebranded as Solmate. The firm raised $300 million from UAE-based Pulsar Group to establish a digital asset treasury built around Solana’s SOL token.
Shares of Brera, which previously operated sports clubs, skyrocketed from $7.40 to a peak of $52.95 before closing at $24.90, a gain of over 225% in a single day.
ARK distributed its 6.5 million share purchase across three of its ETFs Innovation (ARKK), Next Generation Internet (ARKW), and Fintech Innovation (ARKF).
Meanwhile, Solana itself has recently surpassed $250 for the first time since January, reflecting renewed enthusiasm for its scalability and growing developer ecosystem.
In another milestone for mainstream adoption, spot ETFs tied to XRP and Dogecoin launched in the US with record-breaking trading volumes.
REX-Osprey XRP ETF (XRPR) clocked $37.7 million in day-one volume, the largest debut for any ETF this year. This surpassed the previous record held by the Wedbush AI Revolution ETF.
REX-Osprey Dogecoin ETF (DOJE) also impressed, attracting $17 million in first-day trades, placing it among the top five ETF debuts of 2025.
These launches came on the heels of the SEC introducing a streamlined approval process for crypto ETFs, reducing timelines to about 75 days. The debut highlights growing investor appetite for exposure to tokens beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
XRP, bolstered by Ripple’s push for a US banking license, even surpassed the market cap of global banking giant Citigroup, while Dogecoin’s strong ETF showing reaffirmed the staying power of meme-driven assets.
Also Read: Is $100 a Possible Price for XRP? Future XRP Predictions
Ethereum developers confirmed that the highly anticipated Fusaka upgrade will go live on December 3, 2025, following extensive testing across Holesky, Sepolia, and Hoodi testnets.
This upgrade focuses on scalability and infrastructure improvements rather than user-facing features. Key highlights include:
Blob Capacity Expansion: Phased increase from 6/9 to 14/21 blobs within weeks of launch, doubling network throughput.
PeerDAS Implementation (EIP-7594): Allows validators to verify data by sampling small chunks instead of downloading entire datasets, reducing node resource requirements.
Gas Limit Enhancements: Builds on the recent hike from 30 million to 45 million, with discussions around scaling further toward 150 million.
Spam Resistance & Security Upgrades: Strengthening resilience against potential attacks.
These changes aim to reduce reliance on fragmented Layer-2 rollups by enhancing Ethereum’s base layer capacity. The upgrade comes amid congestion concerns, with over 2 million ETH reportedly stuck in validator exit queues.
Ethereum ETFs saw $213 million in inflows on September 18, surpassing Bitcoin ETFs, which recorded $163 million.
Fidelity’s FETH led with $159 million in inflows, followed by Grayscale ETH with $22.9 million.
On the Bitcoin side, Fidelity’s FBTC topped with $97 million, while Ark & 21Shares ARKB and Bitwise BITB added $25 million and $12.7 million, respectively.
Despite minor dips in spot prices, Bitcoin at $116,879 (-0.4%) and Ethereum at $4,537 (-0.6%), ETF flows indicate strong institutional appetite. Analysts attribute this to the Fed’s latest rate cut, which has fueled risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Also Read: Ethereum Price Prediction: Is a $10,000 ETH Closer Than You Think?
Payments giant PayPal (PYPL) is expanding its stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD) to nine additional blockchains through interoperability protocol LayerZero.
The move introduces a permissionless version, PYUSD, pegged 1:1 to PYUSD and compatible across networks. Previously limited to Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, and Stellar, PYUSD will now reach ecosystems including Avalanche, Aptos, Sei, Tron, and Ink.
With supply already climbing from $520 million to $1.3 billion in 2025, PayPal’s expansion underscores its ambition to cement PYUSD as a core DeFi and payments stablecoin. Analysts believe broader chain support could accelerate merchant adoption and DeFi integration.
1. Why did ARK Invest buy into Solmate?
ARK sees Solana as a high-growth ecosystem and invested $162 million through its ETFs.
2. How much volume did the new XRP ETF generate?
XRPR posted $37.7 million on day one, the largest ETF debut of 2025.
3. What is special about Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade?
It doubles blob capacity, cuts node costs via PeerDAS, and boosts base layer scalability.
4. Did Ethereum ETFs outperform Bitcoin ETFs recently?
Yes. ETH ETFs saw $213 million in inflows versus $163 million for BTC on September 18.
5. How is PayPal expanding PYUSD?
Via LayerZero, PYUSD now spans nine more blockchains, increasing supply to $1.3 billion by 2025.
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